Strengthening Fairness and Funding in the Canada Pension Plan: Is Raising the Retirement Age an Option?

This paper seeks to contribute to a forward-looking debate on possible reform options for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). Even though it focuses on the CPP, most of its analysis applies to the QPP as well since the two programs are largely identical. This paper does not provide a broad survey of all possible reform options, but rather analyzes one vital option that has received insufficient attention in previous debates: raising the normal retirement age from 65 to 67 years. A discussion of this option is warranted not only because it could prevent future financing problems in Canada’s public pension insurance programs, but also because it could improve fairness across generations. The significant increase in life expectancy raises the question of whether the current retirement ages of 60 years, for earliest CPP and QPP benefits, and 65 years, for full benefits, are too low. Should future generations pay for the longevity increases of the current generation of workers, or should current workers share the costs by retiring at a later age? We conclude that raising the normal age from 65 to 67 years—and the earliest age from 60 to 62 years—is a financially effective, intergenerationally fair, and politically acceptable option for improving the CPP and for addressing the QPP’s problems. We suggest that the option of raising the retirement age needs to be discussed well before longevity increases or funding problems occur and that a broad consultation with stakeholders and citizens would be an essential part of a debate on raising the retirement age in Canada.pension systems, pensions, retirement, retirement age, life expectancy, Canada

Tobacco and Smoking Cessation

Smoking cessation is essential for COPD patients. It mitigates the progression of the disease and the loss of ventilatory capacity, thus improving the overall prognosis. Overall mortality can be reduced effectively including mortality from respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Its main goal must be to initiate tobacco cessation as early as possible after diagnosing COPD so as to enable the patient to influence the course of this disease in the most effective way possible. Depending on the degree of tobacco addiction, the application of behavioural therapy combined with pharmaceutical support has shown to be the most reliable therapy with highest long-term abstinence rates. Particular consideration is needed for patients with psychiatric comorbidity mainly represented by depression. The setting of tobacco cessation measures in outpatient clinics or practices embedded in long-term therapy of the underlying respiratory disease appears to be crucial for long-time abstinence

Finite element analysis of wood adhesive joints

Engineered wood products such as glulam or cross-laminated timber are widely established in the construction industry. Their structural behaviour and reliability clearly bases on the adhesive bonding. In order to understand and improve the performance of glued wood members a finite element modelling of standard single lap shear samples was carried out. A three-dimensional model of a longitudinal tensile-shear specimen with quasi-centric load application was developed. The main influences of wood and adhesive parameters on structural performance were identified. Therefore, variations of the elasticity, the annual ring angle, fibre angle, and the interface zone and their effect on the occurring stresses in the adhesive bond line were investigated numerically. The adhesive bond line is most significantly sensitive to the Young´s modulus of the adhesive itself. A variation of the fibre angle of the glued members in the standard test is an essential criterion and to be considered when preparing lap shear specimens. A model wit

Integration of a Local Search Operator into Evolutionary Algorithms for VLSI-Model Partitioning

The application of Evolutionary Algorithms in hierarchical model partitioning for parallel system simulation in VLSI design processes has proven to be successful. Thereby, individuals embody partitions of hardware designs. On the basis of a formal model of parallel cycle simulation a fitness function is chosen combining load balancing and interprocessor communication aspects. As supplement to the concept of superposition we introduce a Local Search Operator to achieve a fast decreasing fitness function during evolution. This operator is based on a modification of a classical iterative partitioning algorithm by Fiduccia-Mattheyses. Results are shown for the partitioning of two real processor models, representing the PowerPC 604 and an IBM S/390 processor

Options for optimizing the drying process and reducing dry matter losses in whole-tree storage of poplar from short-rotation coppices in Germany

For sustainable production of wood in short-rotation coppices and agroforestry systems, it is necessary to optimize the storage processes to achieve low dry matter losses together with low-cost drying. The harvesting of the trees can be carried out very efficiently with modified forage harvesters or tractor-powered mower-chippers. The wood chips produced can be dried naturally at low cost in open-air piles. However, this type of storage is connected with high dry matter losses of up to about one fourth in the course of seven-month storage. Although harvesting whole trees is connected with significantly higher costs, lower dry matter losses are to be expected from storing the trees in piles. Consequently, in this study, the storage and drying behavior of poplar under different German weather conditions and depending on the structure of the storage piles has been examined in detail. After a seven-months storage period, the trees still displayed moisture contents of 41–44% following an initial moisture content of 56% but achieved very low dry matter losses of only 4–7%. Moisture contents of 35–39% could only be achieved in October after a further two-months drying period under favorable weather conditions. All storage piles were built up on approximately 30 cm high support timbers for better ventilation. Additionally, covering the ground with a fleece did not have any influence on the drying behavior, nor did different pile heights. Smaller tree trunk diameters are not only connected with a higher share of bark or ash, but also thinner trunks tend to become damp again more quickly after rainfall. That is why whole-tree storage is suitable above all for medium or longer rotation periods with which, under favorable conditions, the higher harvesting costs can be compensated by a higher wood chip quality and lower storage losses